Похвальная беседа о святых мученицах Вернике и Просдоке девах и о матери их Домнине *16

The boldness of the martyrs is the fruit of the death of Christ, which abolished the fear of death. Abraham, fearing death, called Sarah sister in Egypt, not wife. The reproach that Abraham sacrificed his wife’s chastity for the sake of saving his life is unfair. Jacob and Elijah also feared death, and now wives despise it, because then death was a terrible punishment, but now it is a transition to a better life, to Christ. Nowadays they do not cry for the dead, but sing - a symbol of joy. During severe persecution, the holy martyrs leave their hometown, sacrificing everything for the salvation of their faith, and God protects them along the way; their life in Edessa, the intensification of persecution in accordance with the prediction of Christ; the purpose of this prediction. Their husband and father is a persecutor and seizes them, but along the way they leave the soldiers at night and throw themselves into the river, receiving true baptism. The severity of such a feat, especially for their mother; She was not afraid of torture, but wanted to protect her daughters from abuse, and they showed the highest degree of obedience to their mother. 1. Not even twenty days have passed since we commemorated the cross, and now we are commemorating the martyrs. Do you see how quickly the fruit of Christ's death appeared? For the sake of that Sheep these young women suffered the slaughter, for the sake of that Lamb these sacrifices, for the sake of that Sacrifice these offerings. Less than twenty days had passed, and the tree of the cross had already sprouted beautiful branches of martyrs; such are the effects of Christ's death. So, look at the proof of what was said then, justified today by the very deeds. Then I said: “He has broken the gates of brass and broken the ropes of iron” (Ps. 106:16); Today it actually opened up. If He had not broken down the copper gates, then the women would not have dared to enter so easily, with the gates closed; if He had not broken the iron faith, the virgins would not have been able to remove it; If He had not made the prison unsuitable, the martyrs would not have entered with such fearlessness. Blessed be God, - the wife boldly rises to death, - the wife who introduced death into our lives, (the wife) is the ancient weapon of the devil, this (weapon) has overthrown the power of the devil; the weak and easily broken vessel became an invincible weapon; wives boldly rise to death: who would not be amazed? Let the pagans be ashamed, let the Jews be ashamed who do not believe in the resurrection of Christ. Why, tell me, are you looking for a greater sign of this resurrection, when you see such a change in affairs taking place? Wives boldly rise up to death, something that was previously scary and terrible for holy men. Recognize the former fear of her, so that, seeing the current contempt for her, you will marvel at the culprit of this change - God; find out her former strength, so that, having become convinced of her present powerlessness, you thank Christ, Who made her completely powerless. Before, beloved, there was nothing stronger than death and nothing weaker than us, but now there is nothing weaker than it and nothing stronger than us. Do you see what an excellent change has taken place, how God made the strong weak and the weak strong, showing us his power in both? But so that what has been said is not just an expression of personal opinion, I will also provide evidence. And firstly, if you wish, we will show how in the past not only sinners feared death, but also holy people who had great boldness before God, were distinguished by valiant deeds and achieved all virtue. However, I show this not in order to condemn the saints for us, but in order to marvel at the power of God. So, where is it clear that the face of death was previously terrible and everyone was terrified and trembled at it? From the example of the first patriarch. Abraham, the patriarch, the righteous, the friend of God, who left his fatherland, and home, and relatives, and friends, and who despised everything present for the sake of the commandment of God, was so afraid and afraid of death that, intending to enter Egypt, he said to his wife the following: “We know that you are a good wife: it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, they will provide you, but they will kill me. What then? Rtsy, for I am his sister, may it be good for me for your sake, and my soul may live for your sake” (Gen. 12:11-13). What is this, a saint and a patriarch? Do you despise the dishonor of a wife, the insult of the marriage bed, the destruction of a marriage? So, tell me, are you afraid of death? And you not only neglect this, but also weave deception with your wife, play out a shameful drama with her, and so that the king of Egypt, attempting adultery, does not do this openly, you put on her the mask of a sister, removing the name of his wife from her? However, I am afraid that in trying to weaken the power of death, we may seem to condemn the righteous; therefore, I will try to do both, and show the powerlessness of death and rescue him from such condemnation. But first it is necessary to prove that he was afraid of death, and then relieve him of any complaints. Let's see what a terrible and unbearable thing he experienced - because to see his wife put to shame and to watch how they commit adultery with her is more unbearable than a thousand deaths. But what am I saying: how do they commit adultery with her? Even if the husband has a simple suspicious thought in his soul regarding her, and then his whole life becomes meaningless for him. The passion of jealousy constitutes for him a fire and an indomitable flame, the painful and irresistible force of which someone expressed: “For the wrath of her husband is filled with jealousy: he will not change the enmity at any cost, he will not spare on the day of judgment, he will be resolved with many gifts” (Prov. 6:34-35); and in another place: “Jealousy is as cruel as hell” (Song.8:6). Just as it is impossible, he says, to bend hell with money, it is also impossible to calm and reconcile a jealous person. Many would often give their soul to find an adulterer, and would willingly drink the very blood of the man who insulted his wife, and would decide to do and endure everything for this; but the righteous man, however, endured this unbearable, painful and irresistible passion with the greatest patience and neglected the insult of his wife for fear of death and demise. 2. So, from this it is clear that he was afraid of death; now is the time to save him from criticism and accusations for this by saying the accusation itself in advance. What kind of accusation is this? They say it should have been better for him to die than to neglect the insult of his wife; For this, some accuse him, that he decided to save his life rather than his wife’s chastity. What are you saying? Should he have died rather than neglect his wife's insult? But what would be the benefit? If he, dying, could save his wife from insult, then you say this perfectly; but if, having died, he did not bring any benefit to his wife to save her from insult, then why should he sacrifice his life in vain and in vain? And in order for you to be convinced that even if he died he could not snatch her away from adultery, listen to what he says: “It will happen that when the Egyptians see you, they will provide you with food, but they will kill me” (Gen. 12:12). Thus two crimes occurred, adultery and murder; It was no small matter of prudence to prevent at least one of these two. If he (I’ll say the same thing again), having betrayed his soul, saved his wife from insult, and the Egyptians, having killed the righteous man, would not have touched Sarah, then you accuse fairly; but if even after death his wife was equally subject to insult, then why do you condemn the righteous man because when two crimes happened, adultery and murder, he with his wisdom prevented one of them, that is, murder? For this, on the contrary, he should have been praised, that it was he who kept the adulterer’s hand clean from blood. You cannot say that with the very words “I am his sister” she lured the Egyptian into insult, because even if she had said “I am his wife,” even in that case he would not have left behind. Abraham himself explained this, saying: “When they see you, they will say that this is his wife, and they will kill me, and they will provide for you.” So, if she had said that she was his wife, then adultery and murder would have been committed; but when she said that she was a sister, the murder was prevented. Do you see how out of two crimes that were committed, he eliminated one with his wisdom? Do you want to know how, as far as possible, on his part, he also destroyed the guilt of adultery, so that he did not allow the Egyptian to become a complete adulterer? Listen again carefully to his very words: “Rtsi,” he says, “for I am his sister.” What does he say? He who takes his sister is not an adulterer, because an adulterer is judged by intention. So Judah, who went in with his daughter-in-law Tamar, was not considered an adulterer, because he went in with her not as a daughter-in-law, but as a harlot (Gen. 38:15). So here too. the Egyptian who had taken her not as Abraham's wife, but as a sister, would not have been considered an adulterer. But, they will say, how does this apply to Abraham, who knew that he was giving away his wife, and not his sister? And he is not guilty of this? If the Egyptian, having heard that she was Abraham’s wife, had refrained from insulting him, then you would have rightly condemned the righteous man, and if the wife’s name could not help Sarah in the least in repelling the insult, as he himself said: “They will say that this is his wife, and they will provide for you,” then all the more should we praise the righteous man for the fact that in such difficult circumstances he could keep the Egyptian clean from blood and, in his own way, opportunities to reduce the guilt of the insult. Let us now turn our word to his grandson, Jacob, and you will see that he, too, was afraid and afraid of death, a man who showed apostolic wisdom from a young age. Just as Paul gave the law to the disciples, saying: “having food and clothing, we will be satisfied with this” (1 Tim. 6:8), so he asked God the following: “if the Lord gives me bread to eat and clothing,” then it will be enough for us (Gen. 28:20). However, he, who did not seek anything more necessary, who despised his home, who received blessings, who obeyed his mother, who was a friend of God, who overpowered nature with wisdom (since he, being second in nature, became first in blessings), who had such strength, who was so wise, who showed such piety - after countless labors, after countless competitions, after countless exploits and many crowns, returning to his fatherland and preparing to meet brother, as if expecting to see a wild beast and fearing his rancor, falls to God and cries out: “Deliver me from the hand of my brother Esau: for I fear him, lest he come and kill me and the mother of the child” (Gen. 32:11). Do you see how he was afraid of death, how he trembled and cried out to God about it? Do you want me to show you again another great man who experienced the same thing? Imagine Elijah, a soul reaching to heaven and divine. The one who closed heaven and opened it again, brought down fire from above, made a wondrous sacrifice, was zealous for God, showed angelic life in a human body, had nothing but mantle, was above everything human - he trembled and feared death so much that after all this, after heaven and sacrifice, after mantle and the desert, after such wisdom and boldness, he was afraid of a weak woman and as a result fled. When Jezebel said: “Let the gods do this to me, and let this be added to me, if I lay down your life in the morning, as one life of them, and Elijah feared,” says the Scripture, “and ran the journey of forty days” (1 Kings 19:2-8). 3. Do you see how terrible death is? Let us glorify the Lord that He made what was terrible for the prophets despicable for women. Elijah fled from death, the wives ran to death; he jumped away from death, and they rushed towards death. Do you see what a sudden change has taken place? Men like Abraham and Elijah fear death, but wives trample death like dirt under their feet. But let us not condemn those saints either; it was not their fault, it was the weakness of nature, not the fault of the will. God wanted death to be terrible then, so that later the greatness of grace would be revealed; wanted her to be scary because she was a punishment; Therefore, He did not want the threat of punishment to weaken, so that people would not become more careless after that. Let this sentence remain, He said, frightening and admonishing them; there will be a time when they will be freed from this fear, which actually happened. And that He freed us from this fear is shown by the martyrs, and before the martyrs Paul shows. Have you heard Abraham say in the Old Testament: “They will provide for you, but they will kill me”? Have you heard Jacob say: “Deliver me, O Lord, from the hands of my brother Esau, for I fear him?” Did you see how Elijah fled from the threat of a woman for the sake of death? Listen to how Paul feels about this matter, whether he considers death terrible, like they do, whether he is sad when it comes and whether he is afraid. On the contrary, he even considers it desirable, and therefore says: “to be resolved and to be with Christ, because this is incomparably better” (Phil. 1:23); for those it is terrible, but for him it is better; for those it is unpleasant, but for him it is pleasant; and very natural, because before death brought him down to hell, but now death sends him into Christ. Therefore, Jacob says: “You will bring my gray hair with sorrow to the grave” (Gen. 42:38); and Paul said: “It is incomparably better for me to be resolved and to be with Christ.” However, he said this without condemning the present life (let it not be, let us be careful not to give room to the attacks of heretics), and not avoiding it as evil, but striving for the future as for the best. He did not say: it’s good to simply be resolved and be with Christ, but it’s better, and the best is better than anything good. As in the words: “he who gives his maiden in marriage does well; but he who does not give away does better” (1 Cor. 7:38), he shows that marriage is good, but virginity is better, and so it is exactly here: the present life is good, he says, but the future is much better. And in another place, discussing the same thing, he said: “If I become a sacrifice for the sacrifice and service of your faith, then I rejoice and rejoice with all of you. In this very thing you also rejoice and rejoice with me” (Phil. 2:17–18). What are you saying? Are you dying, Paul, and calling people to share in the joy? What, tell me, happened to you? I am not dying, he says, but I am ascending to a better life. Just as people who receive power invite many to share in their joy, so Paul, going to death, called on others to sympathize with him, because death is rest and deliverance from labor, reward for exploits, reward for struggle and crown. Therefore, at first there were sobs and lamentations for the dead, and now there were psalms and hymns. So they mourned Jacob for forty days, the same number of days they mourned Moses, and the Jews lamented, because death then was death, but now it is not so, but there are hymns, prayers and psalms; all this shows that death contains pleasure - after all, the psalms are a symbol of joy: “if anyone is happy in you,” they say, “let him sing” (James 5:13). Since we are filled with joy, we sing psalms for the dead, which convince us not to be afraid of death. “Turn my soul to your rest,” it says, “for the Lord is good to you” (Ps. 114:7). Do you see that death is a blessing and a rest? He who entered into this peace rested from his deeds, as God did from His. 4. It's about death; Now let us turn to the praise of the martyrs, if you are not tired of listening, because what was said borrowed the reason for itself from the praise of the martyrs; but it is necessary to turn the speech a little higher. Once upon a time a heavy war was waged against the Church, the cruelest of all wars; it was a twofold war - internal and external; one with family, the other with enemies, one with strangers, the other with loved ones. If it were a simple war, the evil would be unbearable, and if it came only from the outside, then the magnitude of the disasters would be great; but now it was twofold, and the one that was conducted with the household was heavier than the external one. An open enemy can easily be guarded against; but one who wears the mask of a friend, but hides hostile feelings within himself, is difficult to catch for those exposed to his intrigues. So, then there was a double war, one internecine, the other approaching from outside, or - better - if the truth must be told, both were internecine wars. And those attacking from outside, judges and commanders and warriors, were not some foreigners and barbarians, or people of a different government and kingdom, but were governed by the same laws, lived in the same fatherland, participated in the same social life. So, the war with the judges was internecine, but the war with relatives was more cruel, extraordinary, strange and filled with great ferocity. Brothers betrayed brothers, fathers of children, husbands of wives, all rights of kinship were trampled upon, the whole universe was in turmoil, and no one then recognized anyone, because the devil ruled with excessive force. So, in the midst of such confusion and war, these wives, if you can call them wives, - since in a female body they showed the spirit of their husbands, or - better - not only showed the spirit of their husbands, but also surpassed nature itself and competed with incorporeal forces - so these wives, leaving the city and home and relatives, moved to a foreign country. When Christ, they said, is dishonored, then there should be nothing precious and necessary for us; so, leaving everything behind, they left. Just as in a house that has caught fire in the middle of the night, those sleeping inside, hearing the commotion, immediately jump out of bed and run out of the doors of the house, without taking with them anything that is inside, because they care only about one thing, how to quickly carry their body away from the flames and get ahead of the flow of the fire, which is spreading with great speed - this is exactly what these wives did. Seeing the entire universe in flames, they immediately jumped up and ran out of the city gates, caring only about one thing, to ensure the salvation of their souls by all means. Truly, then there was a strong fire and deep darkness reigned, a darkness darker than night, and therefore, as if in the darkness, friends did not recognize friends and husbands betrayed their wives, enemies passed by, and friends and family were attacked - there was a fierce night battle, and everything was full of great confusion. Then they went out, leaving their fatherland and imitating the patriarch Abraham, to whom it was said: “Get out of your land, from your kindred” (Gen. 12:1). The time of persecution prompted them to leave the earth and their relatives in order to inherit heaven. And then the wife left the house, having two daughters with her. Do not let this pass without attention, hearing that women came out who were nobly brought up and had never experienced such disasters, but imagine in your mind what this misfortune was like, how many difficulties this matter contained. If people undertaking a moderate journey, stocked with horses, having servants, traveling in safety, having the opportunity to return whenever they please, experience many difficulties, endure many troubles - then when a woman and maidens set off, when there are no servants, but there is betrayal of friends, and confusion, and disorder, and unbearable fear, and dangers of various kinds for them, and flight for the sake of the soul, and enemies on all sides, what word can describe the exploits of these women? courage, generosity, faith? If only the mother had come out, the feat would not have been so unbearable; but now she had brought both her daughters and, moreover, two virgins, so the danger was double and the concern increased greatly, because the greater the estate, the more difficult the protection. So she went out, having the virgins with her, and not being able to hide them in the inner chambers. You know that to preserve the color of virginity, they use the inner chambers, and the women's sections in the house, and doors, and locks, and guards, and observers, and maids, and teachers, and the constant presence of the mother, and the care of the father, and a lot of worries on the part of the parents, and with all this it is barely preserved; and she was deprived of any such protection: how could she preserve them? Through observance of divine laws. She did not have the walls of her home around her, but had a strong hand covering from above; it had neither a door nor a lock, but had a true door that protected from intrigues. And just as the house of Lot, although it was besieged in the midst of Sodom, did not suffer any harm, because there were angels within it, so these martyrs, being between the Sodomites and all sorts of enemies and besieged on all sides, did not suffer any harm, because the Lord of the angels dwelt in their souls; and passing through the desert path, they did not suffer at all, because they followed the true path that led them to heaven. Therefore, in the midst of such war and confusion, overwhelmed by the waves, they walked in safety; and it is surprising that the sheep were led among wolves, the lambs passed among lions, and yet no one looked at them with immodest eyes, but just as God did not allow the Sodomites standing near the door to see the entrance (Gen. 19:10), so then He blinded the eyes of everyone, so that the virgin bodies would not be insulted. 5. So they went to a city called Edessa, a city that was rougher than many, but also more pious, since what, in their opinion, could compare with this city, to find refuge in the midst of such excitement and have a haven in the midst of such a storm? And the city welcomes strangers, strangers of the earth, but citizens of heaven; and, having accepted, kept this pledge. However, let no one accuse these wives of weakness because they ran away; they fulfilled the command of the Lord, which says: “When they persecute you in one city, flee to another” (Matthew 10:23). Hearing this, they ran away, and while one crown was woven for them; which one is it? A crown for contempt of everything present: “Whoever leaves brothers, or sisters, or fatherland, or home, or friends, or relatives, will receive a hundredfold,” it is said, “and will inherit eternal life” (Matthew 19:29). And they were there, having Christ as their companion, “where two or three are gathered, there He is in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20); and when they were not only gathered, but also fled for the sake of His name, did they not attract His help much more? While these wives were living there, suddenly crafty commands began to be sent everywhere, filled with great violence and barbaric cruelty; they said: let householders betray householders, husbands – wives, fathers – children, children – fathers, brothers – brothers, friends – friends. Remember here the words of Christ and marvel at His prediction - He predicted all this earlier: “brother will betray brother, and father son, and children will rise up against parents” (Matthew 10:21). And He predicted this then for the following three purposes: firstly, so that we would know His power and the fact that He is the true God, foreseeing from afar what has not yet happened; and what is really for this purpose? He foretold the future, listen to how He himself says: “And behold, I told you [about it] before it came to pass, so that when it came to pass you might believe that it was I” (John 14:29), so that none of the enemies would say that this was happening through His ignorance or weakness; the one who had previously foreseen could have prevented, but did not prevent, so that the crowns would be more brilliant, so He predicted it. And for the sake of another - a third goal - He predicted. Which one is it exactly? That is to make the feat easier for those in the arena, since unexpected disasters, whatever they may be, seem difficult and unbearable, but those expected and planned in advance are easy and convenient. Thus, then the enemies, issuing such commands, both revealed their cruelty, and unwittingly confirmed the prophecy of Christ; brothers betrayed brothers and fathers betrayed children; nature itself rebelled against itself, kinship was divided among itself, all laws were perverted to the ground, and everything was filled with some confusion and disorder, and demons then filled houses with the blood of relatives. The father who betrayed his son, of course, killed him; although he did not thrust the sword and did not commit murder with his hand, he committed everything with intention, because whoever handed over to the murderer someone who was about to be killed committed murder himself. Let us make them child killers, the demons said, let us make the children parricides through betrayal: and in ancient times such sacrifices were made to them, and the fathers killed their children. The prophet cried out about this, saying: “they sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons” (Ps. 105:37); and they were so thirsty for blood! Since Christ stopped these wicked and disgusting sacrifices, they tried to resume them again, but did not dare to shamelessly and openly say: slaughter your children, because no one would obey, and in another way they carry out this command and cunningly invent this law, ordering fathers through judges to betray their children. For us, they say, it makes no difference whether someone kills himself or betrays his son to be slaughtered, because both of them are child killers. So, one could see parricides, infanticides, fratricides, and everything was filled with confusion and disorder; but these wives enjoyed deep peace, because they were surrounded on all sides by hope for the future. While in a foreign country, they were not in a foreign land: they had a true fatherland - faith, had their own city - confession, and, feeding on good hopes, did not feel anything present, because they looked only at the future. When things were in this state, the father stopped in that city, having soldiers with him to catch the spoils, the father and the husband stopped, the father of these daughters and the husband of this wife, if one can be called father or husband who serves such affairs. However, it is better to spare him as much as possible, since he was the father of martyrs and the husband of a martyr; let us not make his wound more severe with our accusations. 6. Look at the prudence of these women: when it was necessary to run, they ran away, and when it was necessary to enter into competition, they stopped and, being captured, followed the love of Christ, because just as one should not incur temptations, so one must fight with them when they come, in order to show meekness here, and courage here. This is exactly what they did then: they returned and began to struggle, because the field had opened and the time called for exploits, and they labored as follows. They came to a city called Hierapolis, and from there they ascended to the city, truly sacred, in this way. A river flowed near the road along which they were returning, and they hid from the soldiers while they were having dinner and drinking, and some say that their father also helped them deceive the soldiers, which I believe: perhaps he did this so that through such betrayal he could be presented with at least a small justification in his favor on the day of judgment, namely, that he contributed, helped and made their march to martyrdom easier. Having thus accepted him as an assistant and having found through him the opportunity to deceive the soldiers, they entered the middle of the river and sank into its waves. A mother came in with two daughters - let both mothers and virgins listen, and let some obey their mothers this way, and let others raise their daughters this way, love their children this way. So the mother entered in the middle, holding her daughters on both sides, married among the unmarried; and there was marriage in the midst of virginity, and in the midst of them was Christ. Like the root of a tree, which has two standing branches on both sides, so this blessed one then entered, having these virgins on both sides, and lowered them into the water; and thus they drowned, or - better - did not drown, but were baptized with a new and unusual baptism. And if you want to be convinced that this event was an undoubted Baptism, listen to how Christ calls His death baptism. So, talking with the sons of Zebedee, He says: “You will drink My cup, and with the baptism with which I am baptized you will be baptized” (Matthew 20:23). And with what baptism was Christ baptized after the baptism of John, besides death and the cross? Just as Jacob, not crucified, but beheaded with a sword, was baptized with the baptism of Christ, so these too, although they were not crucified, but having died of water, were baptized with the baptism of Christ; and their mother baptized them. What are you saying? Is a woman baptizing? Yes, women are baptized with this baptism, just as she baptized then and was a priest; she brought reasonable sacrifices, and will was an ordination for her; and it is surprising that, while making a sacrifice, she had no need for either an altar, or wood, or fire, or a knife, since she became everything, and the altar, and the wood, and the knife, and the fire; and one and the same thing was sacrifice and baptism, undoubtedly more than ordinary baptism. Paul speaks about this: “united with Him in the likeness of His death” (Rom. 6:5); and about the baptism of martyrs he no longer says: “in the likeness of His death,” but: “conformed to His death” (Phil. 3:10). So, the mother led her daughters into the river, as if not intending to lead them into the river, but as if leading them into the very sacred palaces, she brought them in, holding them on both sides and saying: “Here am I and the children whom the Lord has given me” (Is. 8:18); You gave them to me, I entrust them to you, my property and myself. Thus, the martyrdom of this wife was twofold, or better yet threefold: through herself once, and through two daughters twice she suffered martyrdom. And just as, intending to throw herself, she needed great patience, and dragging the children along with her, she needed another of the same patience, or better, much more - because wives usually do not grieve so much when they themselves are preparing to die, as when their daughters have to endure it. And she suffered greater martyrdom through her daughters - she resisted the power of nature itself, resisted the flames of maternal torment, against the unbearable confusion of the heart and against the indignation of the womb. If, at the sight of one dying daughter, life is considered not to be lived, then this, not suddenly seeing her two daughters dying, but dragging them with her own hand to death, imagine what kind of torment she showed herself, in fact, suffering what for others is unbearable even to hear. The soldiers, not knowing anything about this, remained in the hope of taking them again, and they were already with the soldiers of Christ, with the heavenly angels; but the guards did not see this because they did not have eyes of faith. Paul says of a mother that she “will be saved through bearing children” (1 Tim. 2:15); and here the daughters were saved through their mother. This is how mothers should give birth to children. Truly, these birth diseases are better than the first; although there is more suffering in them, there is more benefit. Those who were mothers know about these pains of birth; they know what torment it is to see their daughters die; but to become the cause of their death with one’s own hand is an inexpressibly greater degree. 7. But why didn’t this wife go to the court? She wanted to receive a trophy before battle, to grab a crown before feats, to receive rewards before fighting, fearing not torment, but the insolent gaze of infidels; she was not afraid that someone would torment her ribs, but she was afraid that someone would corrupt her daughters’ virginity. And that she was afraid of this fear, and not that, and therefore did not go to the court, is evident from the following: in the river she experienced much greater torment, because it is much harder and more painful, as I said before, to drown your own womb, that is, daughters, with your hand, and to see them drowning, than to see your flesh tormented; and she needed much more wisdom in order to be able to hold the hands of children and carry them with her into the river waves than in order to endure torture; It is not equally painful to see daughters suffering from others, or to contribute to their death, to become an instrument of death, to replace executioners for them: the latter is much harder and more unbearable than the former. My words will be testified by all of you who were mothers, experienced birth pains, and had daughters. How did she grab her children by the hand? How was her hand not numb? How are the veins not weakened? How has your mind not changed? How could the mind serve what was being done? Truly, what was happening was worse than a thousand tortures, because instead of her body, her soul was tormented. However, how long will we strive to achieve the unattainable? No word can describe the greatness of this suffering; but only the wife who has experienced this and labored knows what these feats are. Let mothers listen to this, let virgins listen: mothers in order to raise their daughters this way, and virgins in order to obey their mothers in this way. One must not only praise the mother who commanded this, but also be surprised at the daughters who obeyed her in this; neither the mother had any need of bonds for these sacrifices and offerings, nor the young women jumped away, but with the same spirit and zeal they drew the yoke of martyrdom, and thus entered the river, leaving their shoes on the bank; they did it out of pity for the guards - such was the foresight of these saints! They tried to leave them a way to justify themselves in court, so that the cruel and harsh judge could not accuse them of treason and the fact that they, having taken the silver, released these women; That’s why they left their shoes, which confirmed the warriors’ consciousness that not with their knowledge, but without their knowledge, they themselves threw themselves into the river. Perhaps your love for these saints has become great: let us fall with this flame to their remains; let us embrace their tombs, because the tombs of martyrs can have great power, just as the bones of martyrs have great power. And not only on the day of this holiday, but also on other days, we will be constantly with them, we will call on them, we will ask them to be our intercessors; they have great boldness not only during life, but also after death, and much more after death, because now they bear the stripes of Christ, and by showing these stripes, they can beg the King for anything. So, if they have such strength and closeness to God, then we, placing ourselves close to them by constantly visiting them and constantly being with them, will gain through them God’s love for mankind, of which may we all be worthy, by the grace and love of mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom be glory to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. Said less than twenty days after the conversation on Great Friday about the cemetery and the cross on the day of remembrance of St. martyrs, which probably took place in the middle of (15th) April. You might be interested in: